I'll Hold On To You

His Twin

Just one look was all that it took for me to realize that something has changed in me on that one ordinary day... ― Florence Joyce

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[Relaina]

Nagkamalay ako around late afternoon. I saw myself in an unfamiliar room -- that eventually, I realized that it was the clinic near the medical office of the university. Pambihira! Ganito pa talaga ang sumalubong sa akin on my first day here in Oceanside. Talk about being unlucky. Grabe!

Hindi ko mapigilang makaramdam ng inis at galit nang maalala ko ang insidente kanina. I never even noticed that my face was making such weird and angry expressions just thinking about it. Seryoso lang, kapag nakita ko lang talaga ulit ang lalaking iyon na may dahilan kung bakit ako nandito sa clinic, bibigyan ko talaga ng malaking injury ang mukha ng sira-ulong iyon. I don't care kung guwapo siya! I won't give a damn care about it!

Great. I couldn't even hide my fury just thinking about that jerk. Hindi maganda sa mental health ko 'to, sa totoo lang. Pero kailangan niyang malaman ang galit ko.

Aba, kapalit lang iyon ng head injury na inabot ko, 'no? Ayon kasi sa doktor na naroon sa clinic, may batong tumusok daw sa ulo ko. Mabuti na lang at hindi naman daw malalim ang sugat kaya nadaan pa sa antiseptic at gauze. Pero kailangan ko pa ring magdahan-dahan sa pagkilos dahil baka bumukas ang sugat at magdugo na naman.

The next day, hindi na nakakapagtakang galit pa rin ako dahil sa mga nangyari. Lalo na nang hindi ko pa rin nakikita at nabibigwasan ang pagmumukha ng lalaking iyon na nagbigay sa akin ng injury. But for now, I needed to go to school and copy some of the notes from the classes I never got to attend yesterday. Ayokong may ma-miss sa mga lectures, 'no? When I entered the room, I saw Mayu approaching me with a worried look on her face.

"Kumusta ka na? Ano na ang pakiramdam mo? Are you okay? Does it still hurt somewhere? Sabihin mo lang sa akin kung may masakit pa sa 'yo para masamahan na kitang umuwi," Mayu said while trying not to freak out which only made me smile.

Grabe namang mag-alala ang pinsan kong 'to. I wanted to laugh because of that but I stopped myself and tried my best not to show that to Mayu. Sisimangutan na naman kasi niya ako kapag tinawanan ko siya. At least, nakatulong ang pag-aalala niya para mapawi ang inis at iritasyon ko. "I'm fine, so don't worry about me. Besides, kailan ba ako nagreklamo nang husto dahil lang nahulog ako sa hagdan?"

Mayu just looked at me with wide eyes. "Listen here, Miss Relaina Elysse Avellana! Nasisiraan ka na ba ng bait, ha? Kung alam mo lang kung paano ako nag-panic kahapon habang buhat-buhat ka ni Brent na walang malay papunta sa clinic. My goodness! I almost had a heart attack, you know that?"

I just laughed and decided not to pay attention to the suddenly fast beating of my heart when I heard the name she mentioned. Bakit naman may ganoon? May ibig sabihin ba dapat iyon, ha? "Bata ka pa para atakihin sa puso, Mayu. And since when did you panic just because I lost consciousness, huh?"

"Huwag mo akong pinipilosopo kung ayaw mong dagdagan ko pa 'yang sugat mo sa ulo, puwede?"

Nanahimik na lang ako pagkatapos n'on. Mayu remained with me as she sat on the seat just beside me. She handed me some of her notebooks where the notes were written from the subjects I didn't get to attend yesterday because of the accident. Mag-uumpisa na sana ako sa pagsusulat when I saw someone standing in front of me and coughed just to get my attention. When I raised my head and looked at that person, I could only frown for some reason.

"Who are you?" I started. Wait... I knew I've seen this guy from somewhere. But that wasn't possible. We just met today. Thought I had to admit, he does resemble someone. At least at the point, I was so sure.

"Bago ka pa tuluyang maguluhan because you could see that he resembles someone, let me make a proper introduction, okay?" Mayu interjected, breaking that weird silence between us. "This is Neilson Alexander Montreal, and he's Brent's fraternal twin brother."

Tiningnan ko ang pinsan ko nang marinig ko iyon at lalo pa akong napakunot-noo. "Twin brother?" Mayu nodded. Then I looked at the guy in front of me. "You mean, kakambal mo 'yong sira-ulong bumangga sa akin at dinaganan ako kahapon? The one who gave me this head injury I have right now?"

Neilson chuckled first before nodding. "Yeah. We're sorry about that. He was being chased, that's why he was running fast. And he got distracted, I guess. That's why he lost his balance at nabangga ka pa niya. Hindi rin kasi marunong mag-ingat iyon, eh."

So he was the fraternal twin brother. That explained the weird feeling and the resemblance. "Wait, why are you the one saying that to me? Isn't it supposed to be your brother who should do that? Where's your jerk of a twin brother, anyway?"

Teka, ano'ng meron at bigla na naman akong napapa-English dito? Masyado na ba akong buwisit dahil sa dami ng mga nangyari mula nang pumasok ako rito?

Neilson was still smiling even when he shook his head. "Brent's over there talking to some of our classmates. Ugali na niya iyan kapag break time." Napatingin ito sa direksyon kung saan naroon ang taong hinahanap ko para dagukan.

Sinundan ko lang ang direksyon ng tinitingnan ni Neilson. I could see Brent laughing with the other students. Kung makaasta naman ito, akala mo walang nangyaring hindi maganda rito kahapon. But looking at the guy smiling like that, I knew he was the guy I was looking for.

There was the familiar beating of my heart. Iyon ang nagpatunay sa akin na ang lalaking ito nga ang dumagan sa akin kahapon. But I chose not to pay attention to that particular issue for now. I chose to give more thought and attention to the anger that was starting to build up within me because he looked like he doesn't even give a damn care about what happened yesterday. Tama si Neilson; I could easily see the proof that he and that Brent guy were twins. Fraternal twins, I should add. Maybe if these two were born identical, it would be truly hard for me to differentiate who was who.

'No, you wouldn't. It will be easy for you to determine who is Brent and who is Neilson if indeed those two were born identical,' that tiny thought in my mind suddenly said.

Wait, what? Ano na naman itong pinagsasasabi ng utak ko ngayon? What exactly do you mean by that, mind telling me?

'Your heartbeat. When it beats crazy, then you'll easily know it's Brent. Right?'

My heartbeat? What a joke!

I just shrugged that thought off of my mind and sighed before facing Neilson. "I'm sorry kung bigla man kitang nasungitan. It's just that I was pissed off with your twin brother since yesterday. Siguro naman, alam mo na kung bakit." You could also add the fact that I've been thinking of him since yesterday and I've been trying to figure out the reason why until now.

Para namang sasabihin ko iyon dito, 'no? Over my dead body!

"It's okay. Naiintidihan ko naman, eh." Neilson stretched out his one hand in front of me. "I know Mayu told you my name a while back pero gusto ko pa ring magpakilala nang maayos sa 'yo. My name's Neilson Alexander Montreal. You can just call me Neilson or Neil kung ayaw mo ng mahabang tawagan ng pangalan."

"Relaina Elysse Avellana. You can just call me Relaina." After that, I held his hand laid in front of me. Oh, well. At least I made a friend with someone who turned out to be the fraternal twin brother of the guy that gave me a head injury on my first day of class. And with the thought of that heck of a guy who completely ruined my day and her mood, I stood up from my seat and approached Brent.

"I don't think this will turn out good," I still heard Mayu saying even as I walked farther from there. But I chose to ignore it.